Man Immolates Self in front of Courthouse

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2011-06-16 23:34

Anywhere in the mainstream media? Not that I can see. The story is here. Excerpt:

'I just got back from the Cheshire county courthouse, the site of yesterday’s self-immolation. As I was walking out, they were painting over the scorch marks they attempted to wash away earlier in the morning.
...
Thomas James Ball, born 2/21/53 and his wife at the time, Karen Louise Ball (maiden name Primiano), born 3/2/65 had begun divorce proceedings about a decade ago. It was alleged that Ball had committed domestic violence against his 4 year old daughter at the time, Melissa. Karen had called Monadnock Family Services after the incident and was allegedly told that if she did not report the incident to police, that she would be arrested for child abuse. She called Jaffrey PD out of fear of what the government people would do to her family (steal her kids if they were both arrested) and because of their mandatory arrest policy in domestic violence cases, Thomas was arrested. He was found not guilty of simple assault in Cheshire Superior Court, despite slapping his daughter multiple times and causing bleeding. The Jaffrey PD apparently admitted that pressing forward as a domestic violence case was a mistake. His wife’s testimony shows he did not have a history of violence. Thomas figured he’d get to see his kids again after the not guilty. He figured wrong. The court continued to press for counseling at Monadnock Family Services (MFS) prior to allowing Thomas unsupervised visits with his kids. Of course, this is a huge racket for MFS, who likely is paid for every one of the cases they are sent by the court, either by the people involved or by the state of NH.'

One news story, here.

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Comments

He should have gone to counseling at the very least. But to be denied visitation with his kids for all that time just because he wouldn't? That was going too far, so far that perhaps for him, anyway, he decided to protest the last way he knew how.

He wasn't a saint but he also should not have had his natural rights abrogated by the court for one instance of excessive punishment. But he also should not have killed himself though, too. For if a man kills himself, then what does he have left to fight with? Self-martyrdom rarely if ever has any effect at inspiring others. Mostly it just makes them very unhappy that you killed yourself.

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Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2011-06-16 23:44